Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Democrats, day 1

I got home in time to see the last 2.5 or 3 hours of this, something around that.

We don't get Cspan on our bargain-basement cable service, so I watched it on PBS. PBS specializes in recursive commentators, the kind who say, "What she just said is [what she just said]."

Hey, it's Lilly Ledbetter. I remember her from four years ago. Glad she's doing OK, even though the law with her name on it couldn't provide retroactive justice for herself.

One of the things I'm looking for at this convention is something to fill the huge unspoken gap in Democratic politics: someone good to run in 2016. After tonight, I want to vote for Julian Castro, the mayor of San Antonio. What an inspiring speaker; what a moving story. Reminds me a little of the new guy who told his moving story inspiringly eight years ago.

Not Ted Strickland, though. Hoarse, bullish in both senses of the word, thinks a guy working 60 hours a week in an auto plant is a success story.

Michelle Obama, the final act of the evening (I hope so; I turned the TV off afterwards to avoid listening to the commentators again), was more fragile and emotional than in her speech four years ago. Maybe she figured she could afford to be. She said that Barack is still the same man she married twenty years ago. Resisted the impulse to ask, "Was he targeting civilians with drone strikes then, too?" I know; what she really meant was that she's relieved at having been able to carve out a stable home life in the White House after all.

... post interrupted by a political campaign call about a state proposition. Was unable to convince this person that its number alone was not enough to remind me offhand which one it was (there's eleven on the ballot this fall). Seemed to think that meant I'd never heard of it, but still wouldn't respond to my requests to tell me which one it was. After several go-rounds of this, she had the gall to ask why I was getting upset, and asked if she should call at a better time. Told her not to call at all and hung up. Afterwards, looked up the proposition. Oh, that one. Yes, I was planning to vote the way she advocated, but now I'm not so sure.